This invention relates to the sport of fishing. More particularly, it is concerned with the provision of means for casting a fishline, together with attached hooks and sinker over an appreciable distance into the water, and to do so in an easy manner that avoids the undesirable features associated with the conventional methods of pole casting a fishline.
It is customary, when one is fishing from land or boat with the hooked end of the line and the attached sinker, dangling from the pole, to swing the pole forcefully to throw the fishline into the water. The fishline unwinds from the reel as it is thrown toward the water. Often as the fishline is cast in this manner, the hooked end of the line is caught in the fishman's clothing, or the clothing of a neighboring person. At times the body of the fishman or that of another is caught by the hook, resulting in painful injury. At other times, the fishline is caught in overhanging branches when casting the line. This undesirable hooking and snagging of the line when casting may occur, whether the pole is swung forwardly, angularly, over the shoulder or in some other manner.
Accordingly, the general object of this invention is to provide means enabling the fishman, whether fishing from land or boat, to cast a hooked line together with a sinker an appreciable distance into the water without fear of causing the undesirable accidents mentioned above.
A more particular objective is to provide casting means which does not use a pole, is safe in its mode of operation without fear of hooking or snagging of the line, is manually operable, and will propel a hooked line and sinker an appreciable distance into the water corresponding to the distance normally obtained under present methods of pole casting a fishline.
A more specific objective of the invention is to provide an instrument which is spring powered and finger operable to propel with the force of an expanding spring a hooked fishline and sinker over an appreciable distance into the water.
A feature of the invention is in the simple nature of its structure, in the means for obtaining a compressed condition of a spring unit within the instrument, and in the nature of finger operable mean for releasing the compressed condition of the spring unit so as to allow the expanding spring to propel a sinker and fishline from the instrument over an appreciable distance into the water.
A further feature of the invention is a pushrod which is mounted to the instrument and is readily available to restore the spring unit to compressed condition following its expansion.